Banana Split Cake

01.13.2012

I don’t need to say much on this post, I will let the pictures do the work =). This cake is incredible! It’s a bit more work than your average cake but totally worth it. This is one of my favorite cakes! It’s a bit messy because there’s so much goodness on top so it tends to slide a bit, if it does just use clean hands to keep it upright. A banana split in cake form, it’s purely divine. Enjoy!

You may also like to try my recipe for Banana Split Cupcakes. I liked those so much I had to make a cake version too =).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. Mash bananas on a plate with a fork and stir in lemon juice, set aside. In the bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together butter, sugar and sour cream until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and mashed bananas. Stir in dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk and mix until well incorporated. Pour mixture into buttered 8x8 baking dish and spread into an even layer. Bake 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, at least one hour, and for prime cake at least 3 hours or overnight (this helps the cake to "ripen," you know how banana bread is always better later that day or the next. If cooling more than 1 hour cover with plastic wrap after 1 hour).

Once cake is cool, in a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Microwave on 50% in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth. Allow chocolate ganache to cool 5 minutes then pour, and spread evenly over cake. Cover cake with plastic wrap and place on an even platform in freezer and freeze 20 minutes. Once cool, place a layer of sliced bananas evenly over cake (you will probably have a few extra that you can use to garnish top of cake slices).

In a mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, whip 1 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form then stir in powdered sugar. Whip until stiff peaks form. Dollop spoonfuls of whipped cream over cake and spread into an even layer. Garnish with chopped pecans, cut into slices and garnish each slice with a banana and cherry if desired (cake topping tends to slide just a bit so if it does just use clean hands to keep the topping balanced, this is a banana split cake after all =). Store cake in refrigerator, note whipped cream will begin to separate after a few hours so this cake is best served immediately after frosted.

Note: I found this cake had cleaner cut slices after being refrigerated for 30 minutes, but you don't get that drippy chocolate so you decide =).

Anonymous: You might want to update your blog post because you never mentioned adding the mashed banana mixture to the batter. :)-Cheryl May 29, 2012 at 9:17amReply

Jaclyn: Cheryl – thank you thank you thank you and SORRY! I’m an airhead sometimes. I proof read these things what seems like 100 times so things like this don’t happen and still somehow they do. Thanks so much for letting me know! Have a great day! May 29, 2012 at 6:10pmReply

Anonymous: Since I mash and keep ‘over ripe’ bananas in the freezer, and never in singles … just wondering in measurement how much ‘2 large over ripe bananas’ might be.

Jaclyn: Anonymous – I think it’s about 1 1/4 cups. Sorry I should have put the exact measurement when I posted this recipe, I’ve been trying to add the measurements of banana to all my banana recipes lately because the number of cups per each banana varies so much because you’ve got those little tiny ones and the big hug ones. I hope you love this cake! July 25, 2012 at 10:11pmReply

Anonymous: Thank you Jaclyn, for the banana measurement. I will be trying this in the near future. I am sorry I posted as ‘anonymous’, but could not figure out how to use the other ‘signing’ options. My name is Barbara and I live in NH. Thanks again! Barb July 26, 2012 at 9:19amReply

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